Vic Marks
Victor James Marks
Born: 25 June 1955, Middle Chinnock, Somerset
Major Teams: Oxford University, Somerset, Western Australia, England.
Known As: Vic Marks
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Off Break
Test Debut: England v Pakistan at Leeds, 3rd Test, 1982
Last Test: England v Pakistan at Lahore, 3rd Test, 1983/84
ODI Debut: England v West Indies at Lord's, Prudential Trophy, 1980
Last ODI: England v Sri Lanka at The Oval, Texaco Trophy, 1988
First Class Debut: Oxford University v Sussex at Oxford, 1975
Last First Class Match: Somerset v Gloucestershire at Bristol, 1989
Career Statistics:
TESTS
(career)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 6 10 1 249 83 27.66 46.80 0 3 0 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 180.2 54 484 11 44.00 3-78 0 0 98.3 2.68
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
(career)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 34 24 3 285 44 13.57 65.66 0 0 8 0
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 306.2 28 1135 44 25.79 5-20 0 2 41.7 3.70
FIRST-CLASS
(career: 1975 - 1989)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 342 500 90 12419 134 30.29 5 73 144 0
Balls M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 62992 2906 28591 859 33.28 8-17 40 5 73.3 2.72
LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(career: 1975 - 1989)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 304 241 56 4175 81* 22.56 0 14 75 0
Balls R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 13039 7966 286 27.85 5-20 3 3 45.5 3.66
- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.
StatsGuru Filters for Vic Marks
Profile:
Vic Marks made his debut for Oxford University and Somerset in 1975, winning
his Blue each year from 1975 to 1978 and captaining the team in 1976 and
1977. He also won a half-blue for rugby fives. He was more of a batsman
then; his first century came against Worcestershire (105) in 1976 and he
hit 215 (not first-class) for the University side against the Army and in
1977 he toured Canada with Derrick Robins' XI. However, his off-spin
improved steadily and eventually gained precedence. Marks won his county cap
in 1979, his first full season with Somerset, and played his first one-day
international in 1980, against the West Indies at Lord's - a game featuring
four Somerset players. He dismissed Greenidge and Haynes but had to wait
until January 1983 for his next cap, on tour of Australia.
Marks made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1982, at Leeds. Although it
was a modest start, with one wicket from seven overs, his 12* saw England
home by three wickets after a middle-order collapse. Although his best
bowling came against New Zealand (he played one Test in each series against
them at home in 1983, and away in 1983-1984), at Auckland (3-115), his
finest moments in Test cricket came on the subsequent tour of Pakistan
(1983-84). Originally all at sea against the leg-spin of Abdul Qadir, he
recovered to the extent of reaching successive scores of 83, 74 and 55 at
Faisalabad and Lahore respectively. His partnership of 167 with Gower, at
Faisalabad, was a record for England against Pakistan for the seventh
wicket, while his first innings stand of 120 for the sixth wicket with
Fowler, at Lahore, saved England from ignominy. In the second innings of
that game he added a further 119 with Gower to stave off defeat. That was
his last Test (of six) though, as his spin bowling partnership with Nick
Cook was demoted in order to make room for Edmonds and Emburey, who finished
serving his ban for going on a rebel tour.
In 1984 Marks came close to achieving the double, with 1,262 runs and 86
wickets in county cricket (including career best performances with bat and
ball: 134 against Worcestershire at Weston-super-Mare, and 8-17 against
Lancashire at Bath), and he remained an important part of the England
one-day team, particularly abroad. In all he played 34 one-day
internationals, including the 1983 Prudential World Cup. His 5-39 against
Sri Lanka at his home ground of Taunton was one highlight, and a
match-winning haul of 5-20 against New Zealand at Wellington in 1984 won him
a man of the match award, and remained England's best one-day bowling
analysis for many years. Batting down the order he was rarely provided much
scope to shine in one-day cricket, but an innings of 44 (to go with his
3-50) against India at Cuttack illustrated his usefulness when needed. He
played his penultimate one-day international in the Benson and Hedges World
Championship of Cricket, in Melbourne in 1984-85, but was then dispensed
with until 1988. Returning to the side for an end-of-season game against Sri
Lanka he proved expensive (59 off his 11 overs), and that probably ruled him
out of the side for the tour of India that was cancelled anyway. He spent
the 1985 off-season touring India with Christians in Sport.
Somerset vice-captain from 1984, Marks stood in for Ian Botham through
much of 1985. He took over the captaincy again in August 1988, his benefit
season, from Peter Roebuck, and was then appointed for the 1989 season. He
played grade cricket in Western Australia in 1981-82 and for the state
itself in 1986-87, finishing 13th in the national bowling averages (with 30
wickets at 31.83), and was called "a great success" by Wisden as his team
won the Sheffield Shield.
Despite benefiting from an Oxbridge education (an MA in Classics), Marks
personified the old-world, rustic qualities of Somerset. A key member of the
side during the glory years of the late 70s and early 80s, he was only the
third Somerset-born player to be capped by England (after Jack White and
Harold Gimblett), having been born in Middle Chinnock in June 1955. An
off-spinner who gave the ball an unusually large amount of air, he invited
the batsmen to attack him, often luring them into error, yet was seldom
expensive. He always seemed to be the underdog; grimacing fiercely when the
ball was delivered, and often carrying a weak attack, particularly in latter
years (when he was one of those on the wrong end of Hick's 405*). Marks may
not have looked as much the part of the international sportsman as some of
his colleagues, but he was a good enough player to shine in a team which
included Richards, Garner and Botham. It was Marks who took the
man-of-the-match awards in the Benson and Hedges final of 1982 against
Nottinghamshire (for his 11-4-24-2, with the crucial wickets of Rice and
Randall) and the NatWest Final of 1983 against Kent (29 runs in a low
scoring game and 3-30).
Leaving the game a little prematurely to take advantage of an opportunity
in journalism at the end of 1989, Marks finished with 12,419 first-class
runs (at 30.29, twice exceeding 1,000 in a season), and 859 wickets at
33.38. Cricket Correspondent of The Observer, and on the board of The
Cricketer International, he has become one of the finest writers on the
game, typically providing considered and entertaining pieces. He is a
popular and humourous radio commentator, and has also produced several books
("Marks out of XI" was the characteristically self-effacing title of one of
them). Somerset have been unable to replace his all-round on-field
contributions, but he has remained involved in the running of the club,
particularly as a team selector. (Copyright CricInfo 2001)
Last Updated: Monday, 29-Jul-2002 15:51:49 GMT
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